Search the Community

Deb I have had the lap band for seven years it has never helped my diabetes, I would just lose gain lose gain the same 30 pounds I am having a revision on Nov 7 to RNY, my decision is based on the diabetic factor. I am very insulin resistant I have to take massive doses of insulin which in turns causes weight gain and inflammation through out my body. I am putting all my eggs in the RNY basket. You will find a lot of info on here, just type some search words in and you will find so much info, And everyone here is so supportive, Welcome

Sandy, Thanks for your response! My health was that I was pre-diabetic, high cholosterol, fatty liver, pallops (spelling?) had to be removed when they did the pre-op endoscopy and during surgery a hernia was repaired. I also was really tired a lot and was told I have nodules on my thyroid, which is badly messed up - thus the weight gain. I now have lots of energy and I'm only 5 days out! Dr, Barverman, NEW Program in Newport Beach, CA is one of a team of 3 doctors who only do WLS. They have preformed over 2,500 of them and seem to be very enthusiastic about their work. They have had 1 death due to taking an extremely high risk patient. As far as complications, their record is the best in the country according to the third party they all report stats to. I had 2 weeks of a pre-op diet. I did not like it at all - they use a product called Bariatric Advantage. To say it tastes bad is an understatement. I best to you! 43 pounds down and counting - wow, congrats!!!

I have just got back from a months holiday overseas and am really pleased that in spite of not eating very healthily I still lost weight. Down approx. 1.8kg and almost at goal. The main reason for the not eating as healthily as I should have should have is that for most of the holiday we were staying with other people so restaurants were selected that suited the larger group. We started off in California where we ate mainly Mexican or burger/ribs. I have to say that I like the fact that your restaurants allow and encourage meal sharing as it meant I could have some of hubby's food instead of having to order a huge plate of my own. I know the US has a reputation for huge meals but some of them are so oversized its not surprising so many people struggle with their weight, 4 sliders is not a starter and a sandwich is supposed to be 2 slices of bread not 4 plus chips! It was great to be able to eat ribs without spending the rest of the night in the toilet throwing up which is something that happened to me on countless occasions when I had my band. Then it was onto the UK home of the pub and pub meals. They are fine the first or second time but pubs are like Mexican restaurants - all the same once you get to no 3! We also ate a lot of lunches at store and stately home canteen style cafes. So I was sharing sandwiches with hubby and also sharing cake! One place I loved in both the UK and Hong Kong was Pret a Manger - they had lovely quick easy healthy options like Bircher muesli, yogurt with fruit, sandwiches etc. Our final destination was Hong Kong. This was the only part of the holiday where hubby and I were on our own. We should have had lots of lovely Asian food but we were so busy we mainly ate on the run. The "pasteis de nata" in Macau probably weren't the healthiest breakfast choice but they were fabulous. So essentially I ate a small portion of whatever I wanted without worrying about weight gain. Poor hubby did have lots of leftovers to eat and his relatives in the UK kept commenting on how little I ate although I thought I was eating heaps! I drank alcohol but not in huge quantities. The serves of wine and cider in the UK are huge, they would never allow that much to be served in 1 glass in Aus. I ate cake and I ate chocolate and even had an icecream. I ate that very cautiously as I was terrified I would dump but luckily I didn't. I did have 1 or 2 minor episodes of dumping ( nausea, shakes and palpitations) but that was when I deserved it for doing something stupid like eating chocolate first thing in the morning! Prior to my op I was very concerned as I kept reading about people that had accidents post op.I had visions of having to always carry spare undies or wear adult diapers. Luckily that hasn't been an issue although when I need to go I need to go - sometimes I had to find a loo in a hurry and the hardest place to do that was Hong Kong. Travelling with the bypass has been so much easier than travelling with a band and the variety of food I eat is so much greater and healthier.

Hi I am going to be banded on Dec 22 and have been reading through these posts to be fully informed of all the bad as well as the good. I am trying to understand why there are so many people who are complaining about constant vomiting, PBing, being stuck yet still GAIN weight. That somehow doesn't seem to make sense to me. Obviously, they must have some restriction with the band to be having eating problems, but how can you be gaining weight when you are unable to keep anything down. Can anyone explain this phenomenon to me? Thanks

I was banded July 2009. I statred out at 252 lbs and lost over 100 lbs. I got down to 147 lbs.. I was on top of the world. Until my band had slipped. I had gotten some fluid taken out to help it fall back into place. I was able to eat more comfortably. Then I had decided to get even healthier by quitting smoking. I quit in January of this year and have put back on 30 lbs. I'm so afraid this is just the start of a downfall.. so of course with the weight gain my self loathing is back and the depression is starting to set in again.... HELP, What do I do?????

Yes unfortunately the antipsychotics cause metabolic issues, such as lot of weight gain and increased cholesterol levels. Quetiapine, risperidone, mirtazapine all come to mind as some of the worst offenders, but all psych meds have this unfortunate side effect. Whether your surgeon wants to proceed, I can't say. Your weight loss may not be as effective as you expect.

I was on psych meds and didn't have any issues getting approved. However, I was told to work closely with my med provider to make sure my medications stayed at therapeutic levels as I lost weight. If you're not already, talking with a therapist might help. Also, FYI, part of the approval process for most insurances is a psych evaluation. And, as already stated, a lot of psych meds do cause weight gain. So that is something to consider for long-term success. One of the medications I was on contributed to a 60lb weight gain in a years time. Thankfully, I was able to find an alternative.

Hello, I started my initial journey in 2010. My mother and I were in a terrible, and my journey came to a screeching halt. (At this point, I am still suffering from the accident.) My injuries required steroid therapy; so, doctor put me on steroids and I gained even more weight. Now, I have to explain that my PCP did not agree with any type of weight loss surgery at first. I had to threaten to find another doctor, if he wouldn't at least research it. He finally agreed and my journey began. My doctor was out of the country when my accident occured. So, when he returned, he could not believe the weight gain or the increase of my blood sugar levels. At this point, he had to put me on medicine for diabetes and made me promise to start the process for my surgery again. The accident made me look at things from a different prospective, and I made the decision to lose the weight on my own. Well, that was a disaster and the weight continued to pile on & my diabetes medicine wasn't working. After a major internal struggle, I decided to have lapband surgery. When I went to meet with my surgeon, he threw a monkey wrench into my plans and suggested the sleeve. I struggled with the sleeve because there isn't any long term data to support this type of weight loss surgery. So, I decided to start watching YouTube videos and join blogs to learn more informtion. When attend my third nutrition class in February, I can now tell them that I will be having the Gastric Sleeve surgery...

WHAT IS MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR? The term “adaptation” brings Charles Darwin to my mind. His theory of evolution is considered heresy where I live, but whatever your personal belief about the origin of the human species, you’ve probably observed many times that humans and other living things have an amazing ability to adapt their behavior, and even their forms, to better survive and thrive in its environment, and that as the environment changes, so do the creatures living in it. Here in Tennessee, the weather is getting hot enough to send us into our closets to bring out the shorts and sandals and bathing suits we need to comfortably survive the summer. At the same time, our dogs and cats are shedding the extra fur they’d acquired to keep them warm during the winter. The humans are adapting their dressing behavior and the cats are adapting their forms to adjust to hot weather. This is adaptation in its positive sense, but adaptation also has a dark side. Defining “maladaptation” requires us to assume that certain behaviors are normal, while others are abnormal. That does not necessarily mean that normal is healthy and abnormal is unhealthy. Someone (or something) is considered “normal” if they conform to a widely accepted standard or practice, and abnormal if they deviate from the norm. A behavior can be identified as maladaptive or abnormal only in the context of an environment. It is not intrinsically wrong or evil, and its degree of deviance or abnormality depends on things like cultural and social rules and norms (cannibalism may be a normal behavior in one society, but not in another), systems of psychological and medical thought (a mentally ill person may be “abnormal”, but able to function despite that); as well as political beliefs and ideals (in a democracy, the practice of communist principles is considered “wrong”). I’m going to try to bypass all those interesting but knotty aspects and give you definitions and examples that don’t require a PhD in sociology or psychology to decipher them. Some maladaptive behavior is disruptive to society because it interferes with group functioning. A child “acting out” at school in reaction to the stresses he experiences at home is an example of this. His frustration with his home life turns into anger that fuels temper tantrums in the classroom. His behavior is maladaptive because it doesn’t eliminate the stresses at home and creates a whole new spectrum of stresses and problems at school as his teachers and fellow students react to his aggression. He can’t learn lessons in school that he needs to learn because his “bad” behavior gets in the way. Other maladaptive behavior is expressed in an inward fashion. A shy, anxious art student is horrified when her painting teacher publically critiques her painting and tells her and the rest of the students that her artwork is exactly what they should not be doing. The art student loses confidence in her talent and changes her major to another subject. Her behavior is maladaptive because it makes it much harder for her to achieve her original goal of becoming an art teacher. My own definition of maladaptive behavior is this. It’s a nonproductive behavior that prevents you from adapting to situations, or changes in yourself or your environment, in a healthy way. It can begin as an attempt to deal with or avoid an unpleasant experience but it does not solve the original problem and eventually becomes dysfunctional. You adjust to a situation in a way that makes sense at the time but that eventually misdirects your energy and focus, and interferes with your personal and interpersonal functioning, your health, and your ability to achieve your goals. At the start, the behavior feels like a helpful, even positive response to abnormal, difficult, or negative circumstances. As a bandster, I used both old and new maladaptive eating behaviors. My decades-old behaviors, like eating to deal with stress, did not disappear on the morning of my band surgery, and 5 years later, I’m still working on changing that. I also developed new behaviors in response to the experience of having an adjustable gastric band. The long-term result of these maladaptive behaviors is unintended and undesirable. The maladaptive eating tactic may seem to solve a current problem while it's actually creating future problems: slowed or stopped weight loss, weight gain, band slippage, band erosion, and so on. SOFT CALORIE SYNDROME & OTHER DANGERS A classic example of bandster maladaptive eating behavior is known as Soft Calorie Syndrome. I discovered the perils of this syndrome for myself when I traveled to New York City to attend a trade show when I was about 8 months post-op. I had gotten a fill the day before I left, and by the time I got to New York I had realized that my band was too tight for me to tolerate. I couldn’t eat any solid food, so I spent the next 3 days eating soft, high-calorie, low-satiety foods like soup, milkshakes, and ice cream. I was just trying to survive long enough to go home and get an unfill. My eating behavior achieved a temporary goal (comfortable survival) while sabotaging my long term goal of losing weight. In fact, I gained weight during that trip and ended up feeling disappointed in myself. A frustrating aspect of maladaptive behavior is that it’s often easier to see in others than it is in yourself, but even someone who’s fully aware that her or his behavior is counterproductive may feel helpless to change it. If I had a dollar for every time a bandster has confessed to eating to relieve stress or boredom, I’d be a wealthy woman now. Emotional eating tends to be so longstanding and deep-rooted that it takes on a life of its town, like a devil lurking inside us who seductively whispers, “Chocolate! Chocolate will make you feel soooo much better!” when you’re too vulnerable, tired, or upset to make a different or healthier choice. When I was being treated for PTSD years ago, a counselor asked me to make a list of behaviors and activities that I could choose to do instead of engaging in self-destructive ones. At first the exercise seemed contrived and silly, but eventually I realized its usefulness. I was not able to think clearly and make good choices when in severe emotional distress. All I could think of was razor blades. My index card of alternate behaviors reminded me that I could telephone a friend, go for a walk, take a bath, listen to music, pet a dog, and the like instead of playing with sharp objects. Now, I very much hope that you’re not dealing with severe emotional distress (which I would wish only on my worst enemy), but I do believe you can benefit by making your own list of alternatives to emotional eating. Carry a copy of that list with you everywhere you go and keep a copy in an easily-accessible spot at home (I tacked mine to my bulletin board). TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES In the 1960’s and 70’s, contestants on the “Truth or Consequences” game show would try to answer ridiculously obscure trivia questions and be forced to perform silly stunts in punishment for getting the answers wrong. The host ended each episode by saying, “Bob Barker saying goodbye, and hoping all your consequences are happy ones!" The relief or pleasure or other immediate consequences of a maladaptive behavior may seem like happy ones, but they generally short-lived, so the behavior must be repeated over and over for the benefit to be felt. As with an addiction, it takes more and more of the behavior or substance to cause relief or pleasure. An anxious person, whose mother lost a leg to gangrene (death of flesh) from bacterial infection in an untreated injury, naturally fears germs. She washes her hands thoroughly and often, especially after touching anything that might harbor germs. At the start, her own home is clean and safe, but because her hand washing doesn’t remove her basic fear, eventually she must practice it all day, every day, over and over, even in her own home, until her skin is scrubbed raw. She sees the abrasions her scrubbing has caused as more vulnerable to germs and increases the hand washing. Soon the hand washing excludes all other activities and she dares not leave her home. The salutary practice of hand washing has become a maladaptive and destructive behavior. Unlike the hand washing or other compulsive, fear-based, abnormal and ritualistic behavior, maladaptive eating is rarely perceived as strange. Eating is socially acceptable as long as the meat on your plate belongs to a different species. It’s also something that’s easy to do in secret, while you’re alone in your car or your bathroom or wherever you go to escape other people. But when you do it over and over again, your repetition of the behavior cements it into a wall around you, keeping you locked inside instead venturing forth to find relief elsewhere. And should you confess to this maladaptive eating behavior, people who don’t use food in this way simply cannot fathom why you would do it. They say impatiently, “Put the fork down! Step away from the table! Just say no to chocolate!” Ah, if only it were that simple, that easy… SMALL-TIME CRIMINALS Some maladaptive behavior arises from ignorance, misconceptions or misunderstanding. Take the case of Martin. He received minimal pre-op education, so when he found himself PB’ing (regurgitating) on a daily basis after his 3rd fill, he assumed that this was simply a fact of life for bandsters. His problem is ignorance. The same thing happened to Annie, who assumed she was doing something wrong but was too shy, ashamed and embarrassed to ask her surgeon about it. Her problem is misconception. And when PB’ing intruded into Carol’s daily life, she believed it was like vomiting, caused by “a stomach bug”, so it never even occurred to her that her eating behavior might be causing it. Her problem is misunderstanding. All too often, a maladaptive behavior seems like such a small “crime” – it was just one ice cream cone – that the bandster minimizes its importance without realizing that the cumulative effect of a series of small crimes can be just as destructive as a single big one. It’s kind of like ignoring the posted speed limit when you’re driving your car. You shudder at the news of a fatal car accident when an acquaintance driving at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone loses control of his vehicle and crashes into a telephone pole. In that instance, ignoring the speed limit is clearly a bad choice. But when you’re late for work (again), run a few yellow or even red lights (again), and drive at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone (again) in your eagerness to get to work on time, and nothing bad happens, speeding doesn’t seem like such a terrible crime…until the day you can’t stop in time to avoid the car turning into your path and end up as a bleeding mess choking on dust from your car’s air bag while an ambulance carries off the person you killed because of your maladaptive behavior. IS THIS BEHAVIOR GETTING YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO? A bandster once confessed, “I eat pretty good all week and then I allow myself a junk food day...a bad mistake on the weekend since that usually means a junk food weekend...once I start, it’s so hard to stop and of course weight gain is the result and I end up beating myself up. I'm never going to be where I want to be if I continue this behavior.” I want to repeat that all-important last sentence: “I'm never going to be where I want to be if I continue this behavior.” That, my friends, is the take-home message of this article. Take it to heart, take it home, and take it out and study it often. Ask for help in identifying and dealing with your maladaptive eating behaviors. Take them seriously, but don’t build them into mountains right in the middle of your path to success. Sometimes the solution or treatment for a big maladaptive behavior can be a small piece of common sense. One of my favorites is: Don’t keep trigger foods in the house. If chocolate is your bête-noir (the black beast that’s the bane of your existence), you’re not going to be able to gorge yourself with it the next time you’re feeling weak if there is no chocolate in your house. Yes, I know you can hop in your car, ignore the posted speed limits, and pull up in front of the Chocoholic Market in a matter of minutes. That’s why we have to be vigilant, honest and aware. And remember this, from page 299 of Bandwagon: It takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days of daily repetition to make a new behavior automatic….so, practice, practice, practice!

I gain weight on steroids, every time. It makes cravings so intense and all I can stomach for days after I take them is ice cream. LOL It is weird and annoying. I know I'm not the only one that gets cravings on steroids. That said, if I needed them, I'd still take them. I'm prone to bronchitis and immune compromised. We never want it to turn into pneumonia so I end up on steroids for it each time. I think my weight gain averages about 10 lbs per round, which is frustrating but not worth risking my health for in the long term. But that's just me, everyone will have their own opinion and experiences. Have they tried giving you an inhaler for the bronchitis? You can get a steroid inhaler. I don't gain weight or have cravings with that. And they are really effective!

Good job! I have found that most of my weight gain on cruises is due to fluid retention and comes off fairly easily. Still, it's hard to get back on the wagon and be successful and it appears you've done it! Congrats!!

Having the saline removed for vacation would have scared me to death! I think once you have the band you may not even consider that as an option. I was so grateful for my band on vacation. I didn't overeat on vacation, I just made some bad choices and that caused the weight gain. My nutritionist convinced me to only focus on staying the same weight and not losing during the cruise. I think that made all the difference in the world to me. The one thing this did show me is how quickly the weight can come back on. I have worked too hard to go back now. Congratulations on your upcoming lapband placement and although it is hard work, it is so so worth it. God Bless

If the diet pill worked so well in the past, then why did you need the surgery? Diet pills don't work and there is always bound to be weight gain after stopping them. You know what you have to do to get the weight moving again in the right direction. Eat protein first, drink lots of water, moderate exercise, etc. Maybe start tracking your food intake again. Don't waste your time with diet pills. My sister took those pills and lost 50 pounds and guess what? she gained it all back and then some. My friend was taking another diet pill and now has heart problems from years of using them. She lost a lot of weight while taking them but guess what? Now she's gained back all the weight and then some. She's heavier than ever now. Diet pills don't work, hell if they did I wouldn't of needed weight loss surgery.

Okay, so I'm getting banded June 6th! Oh I was so excited when I was scheduled! But here's the deal. It's like the closer I get to the surgery date the more scared I am! It's kinda like what I would imagine an alcoholic or drug addict might go through before being admitted to a rehabilitation center. Food has been my comfort now forever!!!! I eat when I'm sad, happy, celebrating, depressed, hungry, bored....the list goes on....I EAT!!! Now I'm scared about my life after surgery. I'm a lower BMI candidate but I'm also 45 and I am definitely headed to more and more weight gain. I'm a RN by trade and I know when people begin to talk about their experiences (i.e., surgeries, child birth etc) the vast majority tend to make them sound more and more horrible. As I'm reading this board I have to say MANY sound tremendously unhappy and miserable with the band and yet when there was a poll over 90% would do it again. SO QUESTION? If I give this my all.....exercising, chewing, chewing, chewing, small and wise portions, never eating in a hurry(barring complications of course....).....are chances being that I will be glad I got this band?

Hi All September will see my 5 year sleeve surgiversary, and I am battling old demons. I was 4lb from goal weight and two years out when I fell pregnant, and used that as an excuse to to eat like an idiot and I gained 3 stone. I managed to lose just over 2 stone of that within a year of having my daughter. However I have been hovering at 11 stone (my goal is 10 st 4) for almost a year now, and I have gotten into some bad grazing habits which I don't seem able to kick. I also worry that my capacity is more than I am comfortable with. I find myelf at a point where I could very easily start to gain weight again, and the thought terrifies me. I am running 10 miles a week which helps stop the grazing from causing weight gain, but when I fell ill and couldnt run I noticed how quickly my clothes felt tight... Basically I need to regain control, and I dont know where to start! I have read about the 5 day pouch test but worry that might be more for bypass patients, and I might be too far out from surgery for it to work anyway? I know I should do more Protein, more Water, less carby Snacks... But I just can't seem to do it! If I have a Protein shake for Breakfast I am hungry again by 9am. And I comfort eat too and am starting to have bulimia thoughts which was an issue when I was a teenager ???? Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. I really need some help.

OMG, I am having the same issue. I have insurance with UHC Oxford plan. I gained 7 pounds the first 3 months of my 6 month pre-op weight loss program, but on my last visit I was 5 pounds lighter. I'm praying I don't get denied because of the weight gain. My surgery date is 12/26.

ok ... i still had a minimum of 50 pounds to lose to even be at a weight i can live with... my first appointment, my OB suggested i maintain while pregnant... at first i seriously thought no problem!! but now that the morning/all day sickness has pretty much subsided, i'm famished all.the.time.... and i've gained about 3-4 pounds... i can just imagine her freaking out on me my next appointment (next Monday) cause i gained... i know i'm not supposed to 'diet' while PG, but there's the mentality there that almost makes me want to...

I'm not completely sure. I've just started reading their website. Below I've copied the info from their home page. It's suppose to bring the band back to new tightness.... I've been banded a year and only have lost 20 lbs.. I'm so frustrated so I'm willing to try anything to help. Hope below helps explain.... The 5 Day Pouch Test by Kaye Bailey Does my pouch still work? Have I broken my pouch? Have I ruined my tool? These are questions many weight loss surgery post-ops find themselves asking occasionally during their journey. Perhaps it feels like we can eat more food or we know that we are eating more food. Sometimes these questions are asked when there has been a weight regain. This is the 5-day plan that I have developed and used to determine if my pouch is working and return to that tight newbie feeling. And a bonus to this plan, it helps one get back to the basics of the weight loss surgery diet and it triggers weight loss. Also, it is not difficult to follow and if you are in a stage of carb-cycling it will break this pattern. Sounds pretty good, right? Order the 5 Day Pouch Test Owner's Manual The 5 Day Pouch Test should never leave you feeling hungry. You can eat as much of the prescribed menu as you want during the day to satiate hungry and prevent snacking on slider foods and/or white carbs. You must drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water each day. A reduction of caffeinated beverages is suggested, but do not stop caffeine cold turkey. Weight loss is not the intent of the 5 Day Pouch Test, however, many who have tried this plan report a significant drop in weight. More importantly they celebrate a renewed sense of control over their pouch and eating habits and easily transition back to a healthy post-surgical weight loss way of eating. Understanding Hunger, Appetite and Satiety Below you will find a brief list of the menu for each day. Please click the "Read more" links for further detail and hints and tips that will enable your success with the 5 Day Pouch Test. Days One & Two: Liquid Protein low-carb protein shakes, broth, clear or cream soups, sugar-free gelatin and pudding. Read more. Day 3: Soft Protein canned fish (tuna or salmon) eggs, fresh soft fish (tilapia, sole, orange roughy. Read more. Day 4: Firm Protein ground meat (turkey, beef, chicken, lamb), shellfish, scallops, lobster, fresh salmon or halibut. Read more. Day 5: Solid Protein white meat poultry, beef steak, pork, lamb, wild game Read more. Good luck! I believe you are going to like the results when you give this plan an honest try. Cheers! Kaye Bailey Days 1 & 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 Article: Slider Foods Spell Weight Regain For Weight Loss Surgery Patients Soft processed carbohydrates, slider foods, are the bane of good intentions and ignorance often causing dumping syndrome, weight loss plateaus, and eventually weight gain for gastric bypass, gastric band (lap-band), and gastric sleeve bariatric patients. Learn what slider foods are and why they cause weight regain for weight loss surgery patients. Read Article LivingAfterWLS General Store LivingAfterWLS | LivingAfterWLS Blog | LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood Home The Plan Recipes FAQ's Featured Articles Video Broadcasts The Store Blog Neighborhood Testimonials Tools Follow Us Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on youtube Free Monthly Email! 5DPT Bulletin For Email Marketing you can trust copyright 2007 - 2012 LivingAfterWLS, Ltd. Liability Co. ~~ All Rights Reserved.

Hi Everyone! I am new to this online support stuff. I will just introduce myself. My name is Chandra and I am from Texas. I have been overweight my whole life. When I was 18 I was diagnosed with PCOS and told I would never have children. That led to a depression which led to even more weight gain ontop of what I had already gained. (which was the reason I went to the doc in the first place) I began thinking of the lap band in 2008 when I had my gallbladder removed and my surgeon said that I really really needed to lose weight if I was going to consider children. Well I have a very difficult time losing the weight due to the PCOS. I began the approval proccess once before in mid 2009. Then I lost my insurance and my job. So that put a halt to that. Well now I have a better job and good insurance. I started my proccess back in October 2010. I saw my surgeon and the nutritionist. Then I had my psych eval. Had a couple more appts with the nutritionist and a few days before Christmas I got a phone call saying that my insurance approved me. After the holidays on Tues the 4th I saw my surgeon again. I scheduled my EGD (required by my surgeon) and my surgery. I signed all my consents and then started my liquid diet the next day. So far I am on Day # 4 of the one week liquid diet. My EGD is scheduled for Mon the 10th and my surgery is on Wed the 12th. I am soooo nervous and excited at the same time. I am ready for my life to change. I have been married to my husband for almost 5 years. He is very supportive and excited for me as well. I am a nurse and I will be staying at the hospital that I work at, lol. So I guess thats all that I have to say right now. =)

This is SO true! In high school I weighed in the 140's and thought I was huge. When I got pregnant with my first daughter 26 years ago I weighed 148 at my first OB visit, I thought I was a whale! I wonder now if had someone had told me I was normal weight back then would it have made any difference? I think part of my weight gain can be attributed to the fact that I always thought "oh well, I have never been skinny and never will be, why bother". Sad how messed up our self image is ya know???

to get back on track after being naughty? I read this statement a little while ago and well....after this weekend I can well and truely relate. I went to a bandsters lunch at an all you can eat. I had great restriction when I walked in I swear. I walked out after eating everything I had felt like the past couple of months. At dinner time I thought I may as well have junk since I had already blown it that day and start good eating the next day. Woke up Sunday and did the same and again today. *sigh* I just cant seem to get back on track and the 2kg weight gain since Saturday doesnt seem to be helping me. Any ideas? *Help*

So... I've been a busy new mom, so I haven't been on posting as much as I'd like, but I thought I'd update everyone on how things went. Hopefully this will be encouraging to other bandsters who want to have babies! So after several years of infertility, I do believe that my weight loss from being banded helped me get pregnant, have a healthy pregnancy, and a healthy baby. I got pregnant in July of 2011 (one month after being banded!) and had a miscarriage. Then I got my a** in gear and worked with my doc to balance out my hormones; but she said that she thought I was healthy enough to go for it! I got pregnant with my daughter in January 2012. These were my fears: 1) Nausea and vomiting would make me slip my band... Well, I'm glad to report that although I did have a fair amount of nausea, I was just really careful about keeping it under control as much as I could, and when I did throw up, to treat myself as well as possible. No slippage! 2) Weight Gain Well, I have 2cc in my band, and I still have 2cc in my band, and I still have restriction. I still don't know if I'll ever need a fill or not. I only gained about 17 pounds total for the whole pregnancy, and I've lost that and then some since she's been born (Yay breastfeeding!) 3) Other complications I had NO gestational diabetes. I think though, that this is because I was EXTREMELY picky about my diet throughout my pregnancy. I realized that everything I was eating went directly to the baby, and with the lapband, I had to make the best choices possible nutritionally so that I got enough nutrition in to help my little one grow. That being said, I did have a couple problems. I don't know if they were related to my weight or not... certainly not to the band, but here they are: Kidney stones: Yes, I had them. They HURT so bad!!! I thought I was going into early labor; but nope. Kidney stones! Fortunately, they were small enough that I just passed them. OW! Pre-Eclampsia: I developed high blood pressure at about 26 weeks. It just didn't go away... eventually it got worse and worse, and there was Protein in my urine. I got induced two days before my due date and my blood pressure was 190/110!! Fortunately, the cure for pre-eclampsia is to have a baby! Swelling: I had a lot of swelling, but I think it was due to the pre-eclampsia more than anything. I got scolded by doctors for 'doing too much.' I was told to stop exercising at 7.5 months. C-Section: This was most likely related to being induced. A lot of the time, when the body is in an unnatural state of labor, ie induction, it's just too much stress on you and the baby. I never dilated past 4cm, and the baby's heartrate was fluctuating dangerously. I tried to labor. I labored for over 30 hours, and nothing... so I got a C section. I'm actually not disappointed. The medical staff was awesome, and I really liked my doctor, and they took good care of me. My baby girl was born perfectly healthy 7lbs 8 oz with an apgar score of 9! She had no health issues whatsoever. Funny things: Doctors kept thinking that my port was the baby's foot. It poked out a lot during pregnancy. I called it my 'turkey timer.' So I hope that provides some perspective. I really hope that all of y'all who are hoping to have babies get to experience this joy. You all deserve it! If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them! Here's my little sweetheart! She's now 3 months old!

While the old me is still fresh in mind, I thought I'd share a list of all the little things (mostly good, a couple challenging) that make getting sleeved an unbelievable experience. First the good (really great): The numbers: I weighed 256 pounds when I decided to get sleeved (all time high was 272). Surgery weight (Nov 25th 2013) was 246. Today, I weighed in at 212. Eating: It's REALLY nice not obsessing about food. I used to wake up every morning praying that I wouldn’t overeat and then go to sleep most nights regretting what I ate. At buffets, I’d worry about how many plates I was consuming. At family style dinners, I’d worry about how big my helpings were and if I’d go for seconds. When I did manage to eat a healthy properly portioned meal, I felt completely unsatisfied. It’s been 9 weeks since surgery and I don’t believe I’ve been hungry once – seriously. Instead of lusting after food, I mostly concern myself with the Protein content and how hard it might be to digest. The food addiction is over and I feel like the monkey that’s been on my back for 39 years is gone. Clothing: My waist size went from 42 to comfortable 36. I went from 2XL to large for shirts. Over the last few months every week, I went through my closet and pulled out the clothes that were too big. I wouldn't have done this on a regular diet fearing that in a subsequent weight gain, I'd need them. I've pretty much exhausted my existing "skinny clothes" and am having to buy transition clothes -- I'm sticking to cheaper stuff for now. Clothes "fit" so much better now. It's not just the waist -- it's the thighs, butt, crotch, etc. I didn't realize how badly clothes fit when you have to start with something that fits a 42 waist. Lastly, at a size 36 I can shop at any store I want, which was not in the cards previously. Travel: I travel a lot for work. Sitting in an airline seat is soooo much easier now. I used to feel like they were oppressively small torture devices. Not saying I want one for my home recliner -- but I no longer dread stuffing myself into one. Sleeping: I used to sleep horribly, frequently waking up with headaches, and was in the process of getting used to a CPAP machine. I sleep great now with no CPAP. No more headaches either. That means I’m not tired all day and don’t have to drink 12 cups of coffee and 6 Advil’s just to function. This is probably the single best benefit so far. Comfort in my skin: Just about every activity -- walking, sitting, crossing my legs, standing, exercising, sex, drying off after a shower, going up stairs, getting dressed – is easier and more comfortable now. I really didn’t realize how taxing some of these things were prior to surgery. Every one of these things is easier (by a lot) now. Now for the challenges: Eating: It’s taking me a while to learn how to eat slowly. I’ve found that speed of eating has the highest correlation to digestibility and comfort, even more than type of food. Like a lot of obese people, I used to cram food down really quickly. That doesn’t work with the sleeve and is a habit that has to be broken. Social stuff: I haven’t told anyone but my wife a few family members about my surgery. I used to be the guy that everyone wanted to dine out with for food extravaganzas. This change has been manageable but definitely takes effort. I still go out a lot and most people are so busy shoveling food in their mouth, they barely notice what I eat. Other times, I use the “I had a late lunch/dinner” excuse as to why I’m eating like a bird. Since I’ve chosen to keep the surgery to myself, this is just a new reality. As you can tell from the above, I’m really happy with the surgery and only regret not having done it sooner. Would love to hear other peoples revelations good and otherwise, post-surgery.

I'm still pre op. I don't have my surgery until December. However I quit smoking in June because first I was tired of smoking and two I heard it wasn't good to smoke if I'm gonna have surgery. I have gained ten pounds during my 6 month diet documentation per my insurance. My doctor hadn't said anything and my insurance didn't say I had to lose weight before surgery. But maaaannnn I swear I didn't want to gain during this time.

You'll have some water weight gain from the carbs, but it's not the end of the world. Just stick to protein and watch those carbs going forward.